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Hi Dave, I think the first could be a winner if it were not so busy in the background. I think a bigger aperture would soften the BG and made a more pleasing shot.
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Thanks Ken. I'll try to reshoot it another time and look at some alternatives
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I like the first, a vignette would help the background.a figure as a point of interest emerging or entering the darkness would give the eye something to settle on.
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What an unusual entrance, I'd also shoot it with a wider aperture, to try and minimise the background, and I'd think a vignette would work well to focus the eye, and get rid of the distractions. Think it would work in Mono too, so that the colours don't draw your eye away from the main focus.
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Join Date: Aug 2008
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Moonie has said what I would have said pretty much. Although you have found quite an interesting subject matter there is far too much going on in the background with strong prominant colours, angular shapes competing for attention. The blue portacabin is a monstrosity. I notice that you have two lenses in your kit bag that might help do the job differently if there is enough room around the station to try it. The 50mm f1.8, and the 135mm f3.5. Shooting with these near wide open, focusing on the sign, maybe changing the angle slighly what can you achieve? Does it throw the background out of focus enough to stop us seeing the mess behind? I don't know, you are there but looks like a project for today if the weather is good
You could perhaps try some post processing. What does it look like if you keep the sign sharp and in it's true colours (colour pop), and then try a bit of blur on the rest of the picture and reduce that to monochrome. Maybe that coupled with your new shots from today will work. Colour pop is pretty old hat these days but it can be very effective to keep the eye and brain focussed.
Would be good if you can have another go and update this thread. It would be interesting on some threads where it can be achieved, people go back and have another go, taking on the comments of other members to see if we can come back with a better shot, or not. Good luck.
You could perhaps try some post processing. What does it look like if you keep the sign sharp and in it's true colours (colour pop), and then try a bit of blur on the rest of the picture and reduce that to monochrome. Maybe that coupled with your new shots from today will work. Colour pop is pretty old hat these days but it can be very effective to keep the eye and brain focussed.
Would be good if you can have another go and update this thread. It would be interesting on some threads where it can be achieved, people go back and have another go, taking on the comments of other members to see if we can come back with a better shot, or not. Good luck.